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  "path": "/2026/05/22/first-pictures-inside-maldives-cave-six-died-released-28481934/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-22T16:13:04.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "World",
    "dive",
    "shark",
    "Maldives",
    "News Updates",
    "Breaking News",
    "Instagram",
    "Italy",
    "Italian",
    "check our news page",
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  "textContent": "Five Italians on a research trip were killed during a dive into the 160 ft deep ‘shark cave’ in the Devana Kandu cave system last week (Picture: Instagram/DanEurope)\n\nThe first pictures from the Maldives cave where six people have died have been released.\n\nFive Italians on a research trip were killed during a dive into the 160 ft deep ‘shark cave’ in the Devana Kandu cave system last week.\n\nImages published by Dan Europe reveal the underwater passages before natural light diminishes and the tunnels are plunged into darkness.\n\nThe bodies of ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, researcher Muriel Oddenino, and marine biologist Federico Gualtieri have all been recovered.\n\nThey were accompanied by diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, whose body was found last week.\n\nIn total six people have been killed as part of the cave dive, with Maldivian military rescue diver Mohamed Mahudhee dying from decompression illness on Saturday during a recovery mission.\n\n##  Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's **News Updates** newsletter or get **Breaking News** alerts the moment it happens.\n\nImages published by Dan Europe reveal the underwater passages before natural light diminishes and the tunnels are plunged into darkness\n\nIn total six people have been killed as part of the cave dive\n\nSharing the pictures on Instagram, diving organisation Dan Europe said: ‘Natural light still filters through the entrance before the system descends into darkness.’\n\nThe pro-divers found the Italians in a corridor with a dead-end inside, Italy’s daily newspaper La Repubblica reported.\n\nThe company’s CEO said: ‘There was no way out from there,.’\n\nNear the entrance to the cave there is a very large and bright cavern with a sandy bottom, with a corridor at the end.\n\nThe corridor has little light but ‘visibility, using artificial lighting, was excellent’, the CEO said.\n\nNear the entrance to the cave there is a very large and bright cavern with a sandy bottom, with a corridor at the end\n\nThere is another corridor in the chamber which can easily be confused for the one the divers entered through due to a sandbank which looks like a wall obstructing vision\n\nIn total six people have died during the dive, including ecology professor Monica Montefalcone (left) and her daughter Giorgia Sommacal (right)\n\nResearcher Muriel Oddenino had been on an official scientific mission with Ms Montefalcone prior to the dive (Picture: Facebook)\n\nIt was 30 metres long , leading to a second chamber which is large but has no natural light.\n\nBut there is another corridor in the chamber which can easily be confused for the one the divers entered through due to a sandbank which looks like a wall obstructing vision.\n\nThis corridor is only a few metres long, but was where the divers’ bodies were discovered.\n\nGianluca Benedetti’s body was the first to be recovered last week\n\nFederico Gualtieri, a marine biologist, died during the cave dive on Thursday.\n\nMarroni said: ‘The divers’ bodies were all found inside, as if they had mistaken it for the right one.’\n\nDue to limited air supply, it would have been difficult for the divers to return.\n\nMarroni said: ‘Realising that the path is the wrong one and having little air, perhaps after going back and forth, is terrifying. Then you breathe quickly, and the air supply decreases.’\n\nMonica’s husband and dad of Giorgia Carlo Sommacal told Italian media his wife ‘was one of the best divers in the world’ and would never put his daughter at risk.\n\nHe said she had carried out about 5,000 dives and was ‘never reckless’.\n\nThe Italian tour operator that managed the diving trip has denied authorising or knowing about the group’s deep dive, which exceeded local limits, its lawyer told Italian local publication Corriere della Sera.\n\nAn investigation is underway to establish the cause of death.\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "First pictures inside Maldives cave where six divers lost their lives"
}